Toothbrush holder



Oct. 18, 1960 s. MERENDINO 2,956,851 woomaausu HOLDER Filed June 18, 1957 amma/=- .MEEENDl VO,

INVENTOR.

Arron/E]- United States Patent TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER Salvatore Merendino, Pasadena, 'Calif., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to The Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Connecticut Filed June 18, 1957, Ser. No. 666,414

4 'Claims. (Cl. 312-207) This invention relates to a toothbrush holder adapted to be installed in bathrooms and the like and incorporating, as a constituent component thereof, a cover for shielding the toothbrushes received therein from undesirable contact by dust, moisture, or other contaminants.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a toothbrush holder including a mount adapted to be attached to a wall surface and provided with a socket for the reception of a toothbrush receptacle, said toothbrush receptacle having a cup-shaped cover associated therewith whereby the cover may be utilized as a drinking 2 pending application Serial No. 657,289, filed May 6, 1957, entitled Bathroom Fixture Mount.

The mount 12 includes a supporting member 18 having a base 20 secured to a wall 22 or other surface by means of screws 23. The base 20 has a horizontally oriented post 24 formed integrally therewith and is covered by a demountable cover plate 26, in a manner described in greater detail in the above referred to copending application.

A socket 28 is formed in the outer extremity of the post 24 and the walls thereof incorporate protruding, locating lugs 30, at least two of the walls also incorporating wedge-shaped retention means 32, as best shown in Figs. 46 of the drawing.

The receptacle 14 is formed from a suitable plastic material such as styrene and includes a generally circular receptor 38 having a supporting column 40 formed integrally therewith, the lower extremity of the column 40 being receivable in the socket 28 in the post 24. The supporting column 40 is hollow and is of substantially square cross section to conform to the square cross seccup when it does not perform its function of isolating I the brushes in the receptacle from contact by dirt and other contaminants.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a toothbrush holder of the aforementioned character wherein the relationship between the cup-shaped cover and the i receptacle of the toothbrush holder is such that a continual circulation of air between the cover and the receptacle takes place to insure that wet toothbrushes placed in the receptacle and having the cover superimposed thereover will not remain in a moist condition due to the lack of drying air.

An additional object of my invention is the provision, in a toothbrush holder of the aforementioned character, of a receptacle which has an upper surface provided with a circular boss thereupon incorporating toothbrush receiving openings, the boss being encompassed by a rim which has a plurality of supports thereupon engageable by the edge of the cup-shaped cover to space said edge above the surface of the rim and thus permit free circulation of air between the edge of the cup-shaped cover and the aforesaid surface in order that the toothbrushes within the cover may be dried out by air circulation prior to their next use.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing which is for the purpose of illustration only and in which:

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the various components of the toothbrush holder;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the receptacle and mount portion of the toothbrush holder;

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view taken on the broken line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the broken line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse, sectional view taken on the broken line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a transverse, sectional view taken on the broken line 66 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to Figs. l-4 thereof, I show a toothbrush holder 10 constructed in accordance with the teachings of my invention and constituted, generally, by a mount 12, a receptacle 14, and a cover 16. The mount 12 is adapted for use with other bathroom accessories and is described in detail in cotion of the socket 28' and the walls thereof are provided with elongated recesses 42 for the reception of the locating lugs or ribs 30 on the walls of the socket 28 to maintain the column 40 in predetermined relationship with the socket 28.

Furthermore, the wedge-shaped ribs or retention means 32 engage oppositely disposed walls of the column 40 in the manner graphically illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawing and bite into the surfaces of said walls to prevent inadvertent displacement of the column 40 from operative relationship with the socket 28 once it has been located therein.

The upper surface of the receptor 38 is bi-planar and includes a centrally located circular boss 46 incorporating a plurality of substantially elliptical toothbrush receiving openings 48 adapted to receive the handles of toothbrushes 50 located therein, as best shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. It will be noted that the boss 46 is not uniformly circular, but is substantially so and is prevented from being uniformly circular by the provision thereupon of protuberances 51, as best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

Encompassing the circular boss 46 is a rim 52 whose surface constitutes the second plane of the upper surface of the receptor 38 and is provided with supporting means constituted by a plurality of supporting lugs 54. It will be noted that the supporting lugs 54 are aligned with the protuberances 51 and that the plane of the upper surface of each of the lugs 54 is disposed below the plane of an adjacent protuberance to define a locating means or shoulder 56 for a purpose which will be described in greater detail below.

Mounted in operative relationship with the receptacle 14 of the toothbrush holder 10 is the cup-shaped cover 16, said cover being disposed in inverted position and having its edge 62 supported upon the supporting lugs 54. Therefore, as best illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, an air flow space 66 is provided between the edge 62 and the surface of the rim 52 to permit ambient air to circulate freely with the interior of the cup-shaped cover 16 and to facilitate the drying of brushes 50 mounted within the receptacle 38. Moreover, as best illustrated in Fig. 4, the edge 62 of the cup-shaped cover 16 is adapted to engage on the locating means or shoulder 56 between the protuberances 51 and the supporting lugs 54 to maintain the cover 16 in predetermined location on the receptor 38. When the cover 16 is removed from operative relationship with the receptor 38, it can be utilized as a cup for drinking purposes or the like. When disposed in superimposed relationship with the receptor 38, it serves to shield the toothbrushes 50 from contamination by dirt, moisture,

3 or other contaminants in the region where the toothbrush holder is located.

I thus provide by my invention a toothbrush holder characterized by its simplicity of construction and ease of assembly and which is so constructed that the toothbrushes mounted therein are shielded from contamination while still exposed to the ambient air to permit said toothbrushes to be dried when in moistened condition.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a toothbrush holder, the combination of: a mount having a horizontally oriented post incorporating a socket Whose walls are provided with locating means thereupon; a toothbrush receptacle having a plurality of openings for the reception of toothbrushes and a depending column engaged in said socket, the walls of said column being provided with recesses for the reception of said locating means thereof, said receptacle having a top surface incorporating upwardly extending lugs adjacent its periphcry; and a cover superimposed on said receptacle and having an extremity engaging said lugs on said surface of said receptacle to space said extremity above said surface.

2. In a toothbrush holder, the combination of: a mount having a horizontally extending post thereupon; a toothbrush receptacle on said mount having a receptor portion incorporating a plurality of toothbrush receiving openings and a cover supporting portion constituted by a rim incorporating a plurality of supports thereupon projecting above the adjacent surface of said supporting rim; and a cover having its edge engaging said supports and spaced from said surface to permit the passage of air therebetween.

3. In a toothbrush holder, the combination of: a mount having a horizontally extending post thereupon; a circular toothbrush receptacle on said mount having a receptor portion incorporating a plurality of toothbrush receiving openings and a cup-shaped cover supporting portion constituted by a rim incorporating a plurality of supports thereupon projecting above the adjacent surface of said supporting rim; and a cover having its edge engaging said supports and spaced from said surface to permit the passsage of air therebetween.

4. In a toothbrush holder, the combination of: a mount having a post incorporating a socket whose walls are provided with locating means; a toothbrush receptacle provided with a supporting column in said socket, said column having walls which have recesses receiving said 10- cating means, and a circular receptor portion with a centrally located boss having toothbrush receiving openings therein and said boss being encompassed by a rim having supporting lugs projecting upwardly therefrom; and a cup-shaped cover having its edge superimposed on said lugs and spaced above the adjacent surface of said rim to facilitate air flow therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Sigler June 21, 1949 Garcia Mar. 21, 1950 Merendino Feb. 4, 1958 Kaden May 12, 1931 Hibbs Oct. 2, 1934 Keeler Mar. 8, 1938 Fleenor Feb. 18, 1941 Farrar Apr. 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 23, 1923 Canada May 12, 1953 Germany Aug. 23, 1951 

